122 
OF THE FUNGI. 
black spores, which in certain seasons propagate themselves 
in countless myriads, always taking up their abode in the 
ears. No less injurious is another microscopic Fungus, 
generally known as 1 bunt ’ (Tilletia caries), which grows 
within the grain itself, filling it with its dark mass of 
spores. On pressing the grain the spores become visible 
to the eye as a sooty and foetid dust. 
Of the cases in which Fungi are noxious to animal life, 
the commonest and most easily observed is that of the 
Empusina musese, Cohn ., to which so many house-flies fall 
victims. It is by no means a rare thing, especially during 
the autumn, to find flies with outstretched legs apparently 
glued to the window-panes, and surrounded by a white 
filmy cloud extending to a distance of one inch or two 
inches on each side of the body. This filmy cloud is a 
Fungus, which, generated within the body of the animal 
during life, has now forced its way out between the rings 
of the abdomen, and is spreading its filaments in every 
direction. [Recent investigations have brought to light 
the almost incredible fact, that this Empusina, when 
immersed in water, alters its whole character and develops 
into a plant, which was long looked upon as a Confer void 
Alga (Achlya prolifera, Nees ), (Plate xxm.) ; a plant only 
too well known to keepers of gold fish, whose sides it clothes 
with numberless tufts of long colourless filaments, gradually 
wasting their powers and destroying their vitality. Nor 
does the wonder cease here : there is reason to believe, 
though the fact is not yet well established, that Achlya 
is but another form of Botrytis bassiana, the 1 Muscardine,’ 
to which I have already alluded as consuming the intestines 
of silkworms. — Ed.] 
All the larger Fungi must be thoroughly dried before they 
can be put away with safety in the herbarium. With regard 
to the species which flourish on such compact material as 
branches, palings, &c., the simplest plan is to cut off so 
much of the wood as is convenient, and leave the preparation 
in the open air until the moisture has completely evaporated* 
